Contemplative Bible Reading

Acts 4:19-20 (New International Version)

¹⁹ But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it’s right in the sight of God [for us] to listen to you rather than to God, you decide; ²⁰ for we are unable to stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

Peter and John tell those who want them to be quiet, “We are unable to stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

In other words, “We can’t help it. We have to tell people.”

My father was a preacher of the Gospel all his adult life. He once told me about a teacher he studied under at a Bible college. The teach, an old preacher himself, once told all the potential preachers in class, “Don’t preach if you can keep from it.”

In other words, “Be a preacher only if you can’t help it, if you find yourself like Peter and John where you just have to tell people about Jesus.”

I know, we are all ministers of the Gospel. We are all to tell others about Jesus the Christ. Still, there are some people who are compelled to speak, who just can’t help themselves. They have to tell others.

I understand being compelled to do something.